Mary Kay Kramer

Where to begin? MK seemed like a dream come true at first. My ex was taking me to court for custody of our unborn daughter and I was terrified. It quickly became clear that MK was abrasive and unprofessional (screaming at her dog frequently during our meetings, cursing, gossiping about mutual acqu...aintances of ours who had angered her, talking about herself incessantly) but I was scared and weak from emotional abuse, and needed an ally. The case bumped along for a few months, with MK doing her part. The 1st red flag came at temporary orders when she showed up as I was headed to the restroom and yelled at me, in front of my ex and his atty, that I had no right to come looking for her (I wasn't) and that I had "better calm down". Bear in mind I hadn't said a word to her, I was literally just walking to the bathroom. In the hearing, she was competent, if overly abrasive, and she smartly requested that the court order a P.R.E. After that, though, MK's lack of professionalism began to be an issue. I told MK in no uncertain terms that she did not have my consent to agree to demands without consulting me (duh) and that if my ex's atty wanted to discuss something w/ her it needed to be via email so that *I* could have a record of it, as he had caused a lot of conflict claiming that MK had agreed to such and such without running it by me (I still don't know whether any or all of his assertions that MK had made agreements for me were true). In spite of my explicit instructions, she continued to have little "chats" with him when they'd run into each other, which ALWAYS resulted in a problem that I had to pay to sort out. When the results of the P.R.E. came back, they were a slam dunk. The psychologist found that my ex had significant and concerning mental health issues and made very reasonable and fair recommendations. Both parties and our attys met with the Dr. to discuss the recommendations and everyone agreed to adopt them. The following day, however, my ex's atty called MK to say that unless I agreed to allow overnight visits (which the Dr. recommended commence at age 4 pending another, better, mental health evaluation) they were going to reject the recommendations and go to trial. MK's paralegal, Donna, called to tell me the news. I told her that I would not agree to that, at which point she literally yelled at me to let her finish, and then repeated what she had just said, adding that MK said I should agree to it. I declined. A few minutes later, Donna called again trying to talk me into agreeing. I declined a second time. MK then emailed to tell me that I should agree to their demands, going into great detail about the risk that the judge would reject the recommendations, and how my ex could "just come back and ask to modify it anyway.".At that point I was utterly confused as to why I was being forced to explain my position for a 3rd time. I declined yet again. This elicited an extremely bullying and bizarrely unprofessional email from MK. It was truly bizarre, not to mention deeply troubling with court only a couple days away. The next day, MK told me that we were going to trial but that no one had subpoenaed the psychologist to testify. I had to demand that she file a continuance, considering the HUGE oversight. Shortly thereafter, I terminated MK and hired a new atty, and went to MK's office to pay my final bill. 2 weeks later I received another bill w/ duplicate charges which I disputed. I never heard back, so I guess it was rectified (?). P.S. I finally went to trial 6 months later and I'm happy to report that the judge adopted the Dr's recommendations. When I think of being badgered by my own atty to capitulate to my ex and risk my daughter's safety and well-being, it makes me utterly furious. Do your children a favor and take your business elsewhere.

I would not recommend Mary to anyone. She is very knowledgeable, but it seems that her office is unorganized. We were not moving forward in our case and deadlines we getting missed. We called for consultation with her at an arranged time and she didn't have our folder ready nor did she know anythin...g about us. She asked for us to send items that We had already sent. So we hired a new lawyer, to find out Mary didn't even send paperwork into the court that needed to be there before a deadline resulting in a denial. I think she would be good if she could get it all together and not drop the ball.

Mary Kay Kramer was wonderful to work with on my case. She and her assistant Donna went the extra mile to ensure I received the best possible representation in a child custody case. I checked out many lawyers in COS before deciding on her, and she was far and above the best. Mary Kay was constantl...y in communication with me, explaining this or that step, and what the next would be. I highly recommend her. Period.